The present invention relates to protector devices for drains or outlet openings, and, more particularly, to protector devices which are particularly well adapted for use in dishwashing machines for guarding against silverware, and the like, entering into the pump used for circulating water through the machine.
A primary object of the present invention is to afford a novel protector device for drains or outlet openings.
Another object is to afford a novel protector device for use in dishwashing machines, and the like, for guarding against silverware and the like from entering the pump used for circulating water through the machine.
Dishwashers heretofore known in the art commonly have had screens in the bottom of the dish-washing compartment thereof for preventing items such as knives, forks and spoons, which might fall off from the conveyor or dish rack, from passing downwardly from the compartment into the pump used to circulate water through the machine. Since these screens have to be cleaned from time to time, to clean the food soil, and the like, therefrom, they normally are made removable and it has been found that, at times, the operator may forget to place the screen back into the machine. When this occurs, silverware, and the like, can pass downwardly into the bottom of the machine where, if the inlet to the pump is unprotected, it can pass into the pump and jam the same or damage the impeller thereof, or the like.
In some instances, dishwashing machines heretofore known in the art have had screens disposed across the inlet to the pump to prevent articles, such as silverware, from passing into the pump. However, because of the relatively inaccesible location of the pump, when such pump screens have been used, it has been found that the operators oftentimes failed to clean them or to clean them as frequently as necessary to maintain good pump operation, with the result that the screens would clog up to a point that the pumps would, at least, not perform properly, and, in some instances, completely cut off the spray action of the machine. It is an important object of the present invention to overcome such disadvantages of dishwashers heretofore known in the art, and to afford a novel protector device for effectively guarding against the passage of articles, such as silverware, into the pump of the machine, and which protector device, normally, does not require cleaning and does not have the disadvantages of the screens, and the like, heretofore known in the art.
Another object of the invention is to enable the inlet of a pump in a dishwashing machine, and the like, to be protected, in a novel and expeditious manner, against the passage of articles, such as silverware, into the pump.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel protector device of the aforementioned type, which is particularly well adapted for use on an upright wall in a dishwashing machine, or the like, but which, if desired, may be used on other walls, such as, for example, a bottom wall in such a machine.
A further object of the present invention is to afford a novel protector device of the aforementioned type which has a portion that is readily removable for affording access to the drain opening that it is protecting, in the event that it should become necessary to have such access thereto.
An object ancillary to the foregoing is to afford a novel protector device of the aforementioned type wherein the removable portion thereof is readily replaceable into operative position when it has been removed.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel protector device of the aforementioned type which, normally, is self-cleaning.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel protector device of the aforementioned type which is practical and efficient in operation, and which may be readily and economically produced commercially.
Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show the preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof, and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying these principles. Other embodiments of the present invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and purview of the appended claims.